


Of the Many Names I Call You

by Taruyison



Series: Fourteen Million Six Hundred and Five [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bonding, Disaster Gays, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, I'm Sorry, Implied Sexual Content, IronStrange, It turned angsty, Kissing, M/M, Nicknames, Oops, Oops again, Stephen Being an Asshole, They're upset about tiny things, Tony being a drama queen, Tony being an asshole, but they work it out eventually, just wholesome things, nothing graphic tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taruyison/pseuds/Taruyison
Summary: Tony has given Stephen a particular set of nicknames, and the magician is not awfully fond of them... Until Tony stops using them.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Fourteen Million Six Hundred and Five [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100231
Comments: 1
Kudos: 101





	Of the Many Names I Call You

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read, written in the middle of the night because of a compulsion, and I was probably sleep deprived. Any and all corrections of my countless errors or critique on how to make the writing better are greatly appreciated!
> 
> With that said, I hope you enjoy, and please come back soon~ uwu

Stephen looked at him like he'd just swallowed an airplane. "What did you just call me?" he said lowly, voice filled with a burning sort of disdain.

"You don't like it?". Tony blinked innocently at the wizard as he grabbed his third cup of coffee for the day. He smiled behind the rim as he sipped on the hot beverage, making a noise of delight as it rolled down his throat. He jiggled his hips in a dramatic manner as he walked up to Stephen, putting his free hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Stephy~" he sing-sang, standing up on his tippy-toes to place a peck on his boyfriend's jawline. "It's cute and it suits you".

Stephen inhaled a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight" he declared and promptly started walking out of the room, almost knocking Tony off his feet as he did. The engineer fumbled feverishly to keep hold of his mug of coffee, exhaling a breath of relief when he managed not to spill.

"Of course, darling, but I rather you not-". But the door was slammed before he could finish his sentence. "-spill my coffee." he mumbled into the silence. Maybe the guy had just had a long day. Tony looked at the clock on the wall. Ten past nine in the evening. He still had some time to kill before the bed would be compelling him to lay down on it. Or rather, the couch, since he apparently wasn't welcome in the bedroom. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to make the wizard so upset. It couldn't have been the nickname - at least not only that. Maybe he could ask him about it in the morning.

He nodded contently to himself and headed down to his lab to tinker on his latest experiment, only to fall asleep face-down on his desk a few hours later.

* * *

A few days later, Tony was startled out of focus from his work from the slamming of a door upstairs. Quick as a snake, he discarded the safety-glasses on the desk and called on a handpiece for his armor. Walking up the stairs with blaster ready, he held his breath. Who would be barging into his home at half-past one in the middle of the night?

He got the answer to that question quicker than expected, as a soft noise reached his ears and a scarred hand appeared behind the backrest of the couch. It gestured vaguely in the air and Tony released the breath he'd been holding. And what was that supposed to mean? Bring me a coffee?

Nevermind that, what in the world had the sorcerer been out doing for so long? Tony discarded the blaster and rushed up to the side of the couch. There in front of him, sprawled like a broken sack of forgotten potatoes, with his graying hair a complete mess and the navy blue fabric of his robes stained with something dark, was the wizard that so easily had stolen his heart. The heart that now did a double-take inside his chest.

"Holy shit, Steph!" Tony exclaimed and went to kneel at Stephen's head. One hand landed in that disheveled brown fluff, the other on a dust-stained cheek. "Where the hell have you been?!".

One leafy green eye cracked open to look at him, a tired groan leaving him. "Stop calling me that" Stephen mumbled softly, not even managing the usual sting that so often came with that demand.

The Cloak gently nudged Tony's shoulder, and he was about ready to bat it away, until he saw it holding a small, red pack with a white cross on top. He sighed softly and took it, folding it out on the floor in front of him. "Long as you keep coming home with your clothing stained with your own blood, I'll keep calling you whatever the fuck I want" Tony grumbled stubbornly, starting to pull at the sorcerer's belts.

Stephen chuckled softly and placed his hand over Tony's, distracting the engineer from the motion. "It's not blood" he said calmly. Tony blinked. He looked to the Cloak, then back to Stephen again.

"Then why did your flying pet give me this?!" he blurted, holding up the unfolded medical kit.

Stephen was silent for a long while, clicking his tongue once before giving a sigh. He spoke barely above a whisper, making it difficult for Tony to hear him.

"What?". Tony furrowed his eyebrows, leaning in closer.

Stephen groaned with barely contained frustration and threw his hands in the air. "I stumbled on the way up the stairs and sprained my ankle! There, I said it, now are you gonna take care of me or what?".

Tony blinked again, looking at Stephen who was avoiding eye contact, then to his feet, then to the Cloak who made a shrugging motion, then back to Stephen. He didn't know if he should laugh or sigh of relief, so he did somewhat of both. He groaned a sigh, letting his forehead fall to rest on the sorcerer's chest. "You goddamn moron" he said softly before picking his head back up again. He couldn't wipe the stupid smile off his face if he tried to. "Of course I'll take care of you, dumpling".

Stephen sighed at being called yet another new nickname, but closed his eyes as Tony went to unlace his boots to care for his _oh so mortally wounded_ boyfriend.

* * *

An entire week would pass before they saw each other again. Stephen had been out on an unusually long mission in some distant dimension to do lord knows what, and Tony had been dragging his feet through each day, eventually throwing himself into work to distract himself from the loneliness. He'd lost track of time, turned night into day, and lived almost solely on coffee and the occasional doughnut. He'd been so focused on his work that he hadn't even noticed when he fell asleep.

Stephen, however, did notice the quiet of their temporarily shared home as he stepped through the door. Waving the Cloak away from his shoulders, he dragged his hands through his hair as a substitute comb. "Tony?" he called out, expecting the engineer to come running like a lost puppy finding its way back to its mother. He hummed to himself when it didn't happen.

Starting to wander around the place he'd started to become so familiar with, he soon ended up in Tony's lab. He couldn't stop the lovestruck sigh that left him then. The man had fallen asleep while working - again. Stephen had lost count on how many times he'd found Tony like that, even though they'd barely been dating for two months.

"Tony, honey" he spoke softly as he reached up to the chair. The engineer stirred, glasses falling off the tip of his nose. The Cloak easily caught them before they hit the floor, and Stephen carefully laid a trembling hand on Tony's shoulder.

The gesture kicked the sleeping man to life, and he spun around in his seat, throwing his arms around Stephen's waist, barking gleefully as he did; "Steph, you're home!". The wizard made a face at the nickname he hadn't heard in so long, but embraced his boyfriend in return.

"It's good to see you too, Tony".

* * *

"You don't like my nicknames" Tony said suddenly when they were watching a rerun of their favorite show on Netflix. They were both spread across the couch, legs entangled and crumbs of chips and popcorn littering their clothing. Stephen, in the middle of chewing the biggest chip he could find in the bag, turned his attention to the man across from him. He quickly swallowed down, slightly disappointed that he couldn't take his time with chewing.

"What?" he said dumbly, confused as to why the engineer had chosen now of all times to bring it up. He was just starting to get comfortable - and a little drowsy.

Tony sat up a little straighter, untangling one of his legs, to the sorcerer's great disappointment. "Why don't you like my nicknames?"

Now it was Stephen's turn to sit up, pushing himself up with his hands and scowling at the engineer. "I never said I didn't like them" he said slowly, pronouncing every syllable.

"You didn't have to" Tony bit back a tad too aggressively. He brushed a few of the crumbs from his chest with his hand, flicking one of them with his finger. He intently aimed at Stephen's face, pouting when it only hit him in the neck. He turned his gaze away and crossed his arms over his chest. He'd been thinking about this non-stop since he woke up that morning, remembering the subtle twitch of eyebrows or downward pull of mouth whenever he had tried to be sweet. "It's obvious" he grumbled, untangling the other leg.

Stephen sat up fully and reached for the remote to pause the episode. He turned his full attention to Tony, but didn't get the same attention back. "What are you talking about?" he asked aloud, hoping that the man was at least listening, even if he wasn't looking at him.

Tony turned his head to meet Stephen's mossy green eyes with his own chocolaty brown. He knew he was probably being childish, but he couldn't help it. He'd always had a hard time keeping his emotions in check when they were plaguing him. He had to find an outlet for them, or they would eat him alive. "You make all of these faces when I call you something" he said, remembering Stephen's reaction to the first time he'd called him 'Stephy'.

A heartbeat passed before Stephen opened his mouth, carelessly throwing out the words; "No, I don't".

Tony grit his teeth. He couldn't sit still anymore. He jerked up and off the couch, standing up to stomp his foot on the ground. The mat dampened the sound, which only amped his frustrations up further. If he were to be angry, he wanted to world to know about it. His anger should be heard, and acknowledged. Particularly by that stupidly handsome wizard he so foolishly had fallen for. "Stop lying to me!" he barked, voice turning an octave higher than his usual tone.

Stephen made a noise as his jaw loosened, mouth opening slightly. "I'm not lying, Tony" he said. Now he carefully thought over what he said next, knowing that any wrong word could pull the engineer over the edge. "I didn't use to like being called things. Sure, I don't love it, but-".

Tony didn't let him finish. He didn't want to hear another word. It was enough to get the confirmation that Stephen didn't _love_ nicknames. He'd just stop using them if they were so bad. The thought made his gut wrench and he turned on his heel. "Whatever, I'm going for a walk!".

Stephen did a double-take, not expecting that response and fumbling for words. "Wait, Tony, I-". But Tony was out the door before Stephen could even manage to get up from the couch. Walk. He'd said walk. Tony never walked. Which led Stephen to believe that what he had really meant was 'I'm taking one of my suits for a spin'. Which meant it was futile for him to attempt to follow him. Even with the Cloak of Levitation, Tony's high-tech armored suits were about five times faster than him.

So he resigned himself to flop back down on his back on the couch, press the heels of his palms against his eyebrows, and groan loudly in frustration. He'd wait until he was back. Tony _would_ come back, he always did. Either when he got hungry or when he got bored. Lucky for him, that engineer had way too many brilliant ideas tumbling around in his genius brain to stay away from his lab for more than a few hours.

* * *

In the days that followed, both of them were busy with their own things. Stephen hopping between dimensions to keep a variety of different threats at bay, and Tony traveling across the world for a grand event to hold a speech about his latest prototypes. Not until the evening on the day before Tony would be heading back home again did they both have a moment to settle down and breathe.

Stephen, expecting Tony to be waiting for him at their now officially shared home, walked through every room while calling Tony's name. Paranoia was starting to prick at his nerves and picked up his heart rate. Finally stopping in the small kitchen area to rub at his forehead, he exhaled deeply, trying to relieve some of the tension in his body. When the Cloak started to nudge for his attention, he jerked his head up, about to yell at it, but stopped himself when he noticed a note taped to the fridge. He quickly snatched it and inspected it. 

_'Pittsburgh for a few days, back on Monday'_ was written with curvy, bold letters. A handwriting Stephen had started to grow quite fond of seeing. He absently traced the pad of his thumb over the text, subconsciously remembering that he would never be able to write as beautifully again.

"Wait, Monday?" he blurted out eventually, turning his attention to the calendar on the wall. "That's tomorrow". He patted the small piece of decorative steel of his Cloak and peered down on it with a suggestive look. "You think he'd mind seeing us a day early?". The Cloak flitted excitedly behind him and started to nudge him toward the exit. Stephen chuckled, but gladly agreed and headed toward the door, discarding the note in the trash on his way out. 

About two hours later, he knocked on the door to room 79 on the second floor of a far too expensive hotel for his own taste. It didn't take long before a mechanic click sounded and the door opened. "Ah, Stephen" the engineer greeted, patting his costume down. "I was just about to head down for supper. How 'bout you change out of those robes and meet me downstairs in five, hmm?". 

It took a minute for the sorcerer to process, and when he finally did, the only words he could find was; "Yeah, of course". He saw Tony nod contently before pushing past Stephen to supposedly take up a table down in the restaurant. No more words exchanged. No cheerful greetings or warm hugs. Stephen didn't notice that his hands were trembling. He didn't notice that the Cloak was tugging impatiently at his shoulders.

What he did notice was the fact that Tony had called him by his name. His full name. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, it stung.

* * *

Their dinner had consisted of Tony rambling about all the questions he had received during his trip, the interviews he had gone through, and annoying reporters being in his way. Afterward, Tony had collapsed into the hotel bed after one too many glasses of wine. Stephen had absently told him not to drink so much and that he would definitely be hungover the day after, and then he had untied his tie and thrown his suit jacket over the backrest of an armchair.

The one good thing about that hotel room was the balcony. It wasn't big, but it was a balcony, and Stephen had taken too many minutes now to lean over the railing and glare aimlessly out on the streets of Pittsburgh. The Cloak had eventually started to stir and coaxed Stephen back inside. Not to the bed, which it had wanted to, but to the armchair, where he eventually passed out after a few minutes of watching the peacefully sleeping engineer.

The day after wasn't much different. Tony had ranted about himself and the horrendous headache he was experiencing. Only when they were approaching the car that would take them from the hotel to the airport did Stephen speak up, holding his hands up and claiming he didn't do well with cars. "I'll meet you back home" he had said, donning the Cloak of Levitation and taking to the sky. 

Spending the flight alone, Tony had fidgeted with whatever he could get his hands on. Flipping through channels on the built-in TV, pressing the buttons on the radio, flicking the light switch. Having had enough of the silence, he'd taken to sweet-talking one of the flight attendants, successfully getting himself a free drink and a new number in his phone.

At last, the door to his home was within reach. Hours had passed, and he was drunk, tired, and honestly missed that bastardly magician. As he stepped inside the familiar warmth, he quickly discarded his bags and marched directly into the bedroom. To his immense joy, the wizard was laying on the bed, dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of blue sweatpants. He stopped the motion he had been making with his hands and sat up when he realized that he wasn't alone in the room anymore.

He was about to make a comment about taking too long when Tony opened his mouth. "I realize that I owe you an apology" he blurted while smoothing his clothes down. He was still wearing his costume. Stephen blinked, not following where the engineer was coming from. Apologize for what? 

Tony cleared his throat. "I've been an ass to you".

Stephen hummed softly, realizing that Tony had been drinking again. He patted beside him on the bed, gesturing for the other man to sit down. He noticed that the engineer was reluctant, but eventually did as he was asked. The stiff and tense man melted into his side as he laid an arm around him and kissed him on his temple. "You're stressed, Tony". 

The engineer was about to complain, but clamped his mouth shut and just allowed himself to sit there, relishing in the warmth. They sat like that for a long while, until eventually, Tony sighed. "I really am sorry" he mumbled. 

"Oh, don't worry about me" Stephen said softly, putting a finger under Tony's chin to make him look at him. "You've had a stressful week". And he truly believed that with the way Tony was leaning against him. Pouches had started to form under his eyes, his beard was untrimmed, and it looked like he hadn't brushed his hair in weeks. "Gosh, Tony, you're a mess". 

"Thanks cupcake, you don't look too bad either" Tony responded absently, seemingly too drunk to actually process Stephen's words. He squinted briefly and leaned in a little closer. "Your eyes are so beautiful up close". Now Stephen was sure that the engineer was stressed out of his mind. He needed a shower, a long nap, and a healthy meal that didn't consist of doughnuts or hamburgers. 

"Alright, come on, you need a-". But before he could finish the sentence, Tony's lips were on his, muffling his speech. A shiver trailed down his spine and he made a soft noise of delight. How long had it been since they kissed like this? They'd barely had any time for each other in weeks. So busy to each their own, and when they weren't busy, they were either sleeping or watching Netflix, because they were too exhausted to do else. 

Stephen's eyes fell close and he wrapped his arms around the engineer, returning the kiss. Soon enough, they were making out feverishly, tongues battling for dominance and hands roaming each other's still clothed bodies.

* * *

"Oh boy..." the magician breathed as his head fell back on the pillow. Tony purred as he snuggled up on top of his bare chest. Their clothes lay discarded on the floor, temporarily forgotten to be picked up later.

"You certainly have a way of apologizing to someone, Tones" Stephen said with a chuckle, wrapping one arm around Tony and putting the other under his head. He absently trailed little circles over Tony's skin with his fingers. They were almost completely still for once. Similarly, the engineer was trailing a variety of different patterns with his fingertips over Stephen's chest.

"Was that your lousy attempt at a nickname?" he muttered as he traced a faded scar with the pad of his thumb. Stephen's mouth fell open, about to deny it, only to close again, and he grew silent. _'Tones'_. He hadn't even realized that he'd said it. He chuckled softly and turned his head to place a kiss amongst Tony's messy brown locks.

"Yup" he admitted, clicking his lips to make the sound pop. The response he got was priceless, the engineer starting to snigger against his chest. That calloused hand moved to wrap around his waist, pulling them in closer together.

"You're horrible, Steph" Tony grumbled, but sighed lovingly and entangled their legs together. Then he stilled, and for the first time in the three months they had now been dating, the wizard smiled at hearing that god awful nickname again.


End file.
